Ray Kroc did not start McDonald's (NYSE: MCD). But he was the one that had the vision and energy to turn it into a global powerhouse.

Back in 1977, Kroc wrote a book about his story, called Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's. The title is appropriate. You see, he did not get involved in McDonald's until he was 52 (in 1954).

What I like about Kroc's book is that he has some simple advice for building a successful business. And, it's always a good idea to look at the fundamentals. So, here are some of the takeaways:

With all the bailout money circulating through the system, the U.S. government is fundamentally altering notions of competition. Mainly, companies that are receiving bailout funds are finding themselves with a distinct competitive advantage.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that "Since the onset of the financial crisis nine months ago, the government has become the nation's biggest mortgage lender, guaranteed nearly $3 trillion in money-market mutual-fund assets, commandeered and restructured two car companies, taken equity stakes in nearly 600 banks, lent more than $300 billion to blue-chip companies, supported the life-insurance industry and become a credit source for buyers of cars, tractors and even weapons for hunting ... Increasingly, companies big and small are competing on the basis of their ability to tap government money."

The Bush administration has taken the approach that business can do no harm. So we have had eight years of the fox guarding the hen house. Adding a few more thoughts to yesterday's Sunday Funnies: Business should have NBA type salary cap. The subject of executive pay at public corporations sometimes raises eyebrows, sometimes raises voices, and often loud protests.

When companies perform poorly financially and it is reflected in the share price the protests are even louder and more justified.

Like they say about pornography... When executive pay becomes so high that it becomes obscene, you may not be able to define it exactly, but you know it when you see it!

Unfortunately these protests are not coming from the board room, or large institutional investors or pension funds, although they should! They come from the "hard working stiffs" that go unheard and disrespected -- and the common shareholder.

Shares of drug maker Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) have been tumbling in early trading after reporting this morning a plunge of 18% in its first-quarter profit. The company's earnings numbers have been dragged down by lower sales of blood-pressure drug Norvasc and the allergy drug Zyrtec.

The company said its quarterly profit dropped to $2.78 billion, or 41 cents per share on strong generic competition. These numbers are down from $3.39 billion, or 48 cents per share reported in the same period a year ago. Excluding items, Pfizer's earnings would have come in at 61 cents per share, missing analysts' predictions for a profit of 66 cents per share in the quarter.

Pfizer's quarterly revenue also slipped 5% to $11.85 billion.The company attributed the revenue decline to its loss of U.S. exclusivity for blood pressure drug Norvasc. However, the drop in revenue could have been even worse if the drug maker hadn't benefited from the weak dollar, Pfizer stated. Analysts expected the company to show sales of $12.06 billion in the first quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.

With people increasingly worried about the housing market and the credit crunch, it's not a surprise that many consumers are saving their money instead of buying furniture and investing in their houses. And given the current market conditions, it's no surprise that Swedish retail chain Ikea has seen its sales under pressure lately.

Anders Dahlvig, Ikea's chief executive, recently stated that the furniture retailer has been experiencing sales declines in some of its major markets, including Spain, Italy, and Germany. Moreover, the company expects the U.S. economic slowdown to affect other European markets as well. Both the global economic slowdown and higher energy and food prices have weighed on consumer confidence, contributing to the company's weak sales.

Even so, Ikea is not cancelling its expansion plans. The company believes that the weak market conditions lower not only its sales but also those of its rivals. "In bad times the competition is hurting as well and I feel it is an opportunity for Ikea," Dahlvig declared.

After announcing last week that it plans to save $3 billion over the next three years by slashing production costs in all areas, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL)'s Chief Executive Michael Dell announced today that he expects a profitable 2008 year for the company. Dell's goal to improve profits for the year will be a result of its strategy to move its resources to growing emerging market countries.

Dell also restated the company's target to buy back $1 billion of its own shares during this quarter. The move follows another repurchase of $4 billion in the fourth quarter. Over the long term, Dell aims an earnings per share growth each year and is confident it has "the right plans in place" to get it, Dell said.

Michael Dell predicted that 2008 would be a prosperous year as sales numbers are already looking great. For example, in Israel, the company last year saw an increase of 67% for its sold products, and it has been seeing even faster growth during the first three months of this year.

Despite a weak economic environment, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) is continuing its strong competition with rival General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) for the title of the world's largest automaker. The auto industry competition has become even stronger as new rivals appear in China, Russia, South America and other regions. In its attempt to claim sole dominance of the auto world, Toyota plans to gain ground in new markets by focusing on finding more efficient methods to build its cars.

One example of Toyota trying to think "outside the box," can be illustrated by a training practice put in place at the automaker's training center located inside its Motomachi assembly complex. The company has been having some workers using golf balls in order to exercise and make their fingers more flexible. A part of the training involves workers using their concentration to make two balls they hold in each hand roll in opposite directions. Sounds a little crazy, but the practice is designed to improve their skills on tasks regarding the assembly line of cars they build.

This is all aimed at accomplishing Toyota's plan of global domination. One thing that Toyota is aware of, and trying to improve upon, is its ability to run efficient operations in countries outside of Japan. Consider this... Toyota currently operates plants in 27 countries, with plans to build in even more locations. Where the potential trouble comes into play is the fact that key management jobs in each country are held entirely by Japanese executives who decide all the company's major operations and strategic plans.

Five Chinese manufacturers are fielding display automobiles at the 2008 North American Auto Show. Amid a flurry of drab Chinese displays, misspelled promotional materials and one unscheduled auto tour through an ongoing press conference, China is presenting vehicles in the hope that the American auto-buying public will take them for real. I wonder how they feel about this at General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford Motors (NYSE: F), Toyota (NYSE: TM), and Chrysler.

This influx of Chinese auto manufacturers represents a 400% increase in their presence at the auto show over just two years ago. Should the big auto makers be scared yet? This blogger hardly thinks so, yet the above picture is the Geely-Beauty Leopard, an automobile of Chinese manufacture which has been marketed quite successfully in Europe since 2002.

The European Commission has launched a new antitrust investigation against software giant Microsoft, alleging that the company abused its market dominance, Reuters reported.

Following complaints by Norway-based Web browser company Opera, and a coalition of technology companies, the EU will inquire as to whether Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) broke EU competition rules to help its Web browser and its Office / Outlook products.

Microsoft's a focus, again

The inquiry comes four months after Microsoft lost its Europe appeal of a case in which officials ruled that the company had illegally tied its Media Player to the Windows operating system and had failed to disclose information that would make other server software company's products operate on the Windows system, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Another day, more worries about Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s growing global power. The internet advertising juggernaut has so much influence over the spread of information (and the advertising dollars that come along with that) that it's hard to see just how powerful the company has become in just the last three years alone.

So here we are in 2008, and -- again -- government regulators are growing more concerned about the power Google has. In a capitalist society, where does the free market end and the power of government begin? That's a formula nobody can answer. When the U.S. government made its case against Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) a decade ago, it included pieces of how the company trampled on its competitors using illegal tactics. I've never agreed with the Internet Explorer part of that litigation and never will -- since, after all, consumers are free to download any free web browser they please. Is the growing government concern over Google's growth in the same venue? It shouldn't be.

Is anyone forcing you to use Google every single day? Nope -- it's your choice. Google ascended to the top spot in internet search without distributing a single piece of software to its customers or using any kind of illegal tactics at all. It simply provided the best and most complete experience. Customers recognized that and have made Google the top choice in internet search (and advertising along with it).

Does that require regulation? How absurd. It's true that Google could provide privacy details (and much more) to each customer at regular intervals -- but if it screws up, users will leave Google. But, when a company that does so much right for its consumers grows large because of that fact, competitors turn to any tactic they can to try and stem the flood. Making a better product, in the free enterprise tradition, would seem a better tactic.

This morning, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted a rise of 6% for its global group sales to a total of 9.37 million vehicles last year. The company's results put increased pressure on General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) for the title of the world's largest automaker.

General Motor hasn't announced yet its annual sales results, but analysts expect the company show 2007 sales of 9.3 million vehicles. As we can see, the sales numbers suggest a tight race in the company's fight for the biggest automaker in global sales.

The recent surge in oil prices helped Toyota to increase sales of its more fuel efficient cars, such as the Camry sedan and the Prius gas-electric hybrid models. General Motors has been able to keep the top industry spot for the past 76 years.

Despite a shaky economy where recession concerns gain ground each day, car demand is booming for at least one major auto maker. Car maker Honda anticipates that even in a recession, people will continue to need cars, and from this point of view, Honda anticipates its global sales will jump 6% this year to a record 3.76 million vehicles, helped by strong demand in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

According to Takeo Fukui, the automaker's president, Honda plans to invest in research for hybrids and other new technology in Japan to face "the competition in hybrids" which has just begun. Let's remember that Toyota has already made the Prius, which is currently the top-selling hybrid.

Honda intends to create a new hybrid model that runs on gas and electricity, and its sales are expected to reach 200,000 vehicles a year. The company's strategy will be based more on hybrid offerings as overall hybrid sales are estimated to bring about 10 percent of Honda's sales in the next four years.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) saw a sharp drop in its third-quarter profit, as the world's largest drugmaker's net income declined 77% for its most recently completed quarter. Two big takeaways here: Pfizer exited the Exubera inhaled-insulin product market (taking a $2.8 billion charge in the process) and the company faced more severe generic product competition as well.

Generic drugs always hamper big pharma firms, and it's not going to get any easier in the next few years. Pfizer even lowered its 2007 net income forecast when it released Q3 results, partly on expanded generic competition. Try this on for size: Pfizer's Q3 profit came in at $761 million, down from $3.36 billion in the year-ago quarter. Sales fell 2% in the quarter to come in at $12 billion.

In what could be considered a lack of due diligence (oddly) or some terrible mis-forecasting, Pfizer's purchase of the worldwide rights to the Exubera product from Europe's Sanofi-Aventis in 2006 was a complete disaster. The $1.4 billion purchase produced Q2 revenue for Pfizer of $4 million. Let's see: even nominal growth rates would have given Pfizer perhaps $20 million in global annual revenue. Yikes -- that's more than a 20-year period for return there. Pfizer called Exubera numbers "disappointing," but I would call them "totally disastrous." Adding to the pain are the exclusivity losses for blockbuster products like Zithromax, Zoloft and Norvasc, but at least Pfizer sees the writing on the wall, what with 10,000 layoffs and everything.

The Justice Department came to an agreement with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) in 2002 to regulate what the government saw as non-competitive actions by the big software company. According to Reuters: "Microsoft was found to have unlawfully used its monopoly in personal computer operating systems to discourage computer manufacturers from loading non-Microsoft software on their machines."

Now, the feds are saying Microsoft is doing just fine playing with others and the issue of competition has receded. Not so, say several state attorneys general. They don't believe that Gates & Co. have done much to mend their evil ways.

It is hard to say how the states measure this. Does Linux have a better footprint in the server market? Yes. Is the PC market more open to operating systems outside Windows? No. But until Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) makes its OS broadly available there are not any other alternatives.

Microsoft is certainly using the OS to help it in other areas, like keeping its browser in first place. But areas like web video are now dominated by Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE)'s Flash platform. That was not true five years ago. PC software security is dominated by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC).

If there hadn't been a federal case against Microsoft, the landscape might remain the same as it was throughout the 1990s. But, with competition from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and other large software companies, it is hard to say that conditions have not changed.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Now that digital music leader Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is selling non-protected digital songs from its iTunes Plus music store, is the iPod maker extraordinaire setting itself up to have more competition in the digital audio player (DAP) marketplace?

After all, the whole customer-friendly integration between the company's iPod and its iTunes music store is what kept customers coming back for more (and more). The iPod was the coolest DAP on the market (and still is from market share figures alone), and songs downloaded from iTunes could only be played on the iPod, just as Apple designed and intended, tech hacks aside.

But now that non-protected digital music files (in AAC format) can be downloaded from the iTunes music store at a more hefty $1.29 each, is Apple going to see its iPod market share slip since customers can now use any AAC-compatible DAP to listen to music from the iTunes Plus selection?

Remember that the still-protected iTunes music selections far outweigh the iTunes Plus non-protected music selections. I'm quite sure Apple will reign in the iTunes Plus selection to gauge customer response for at least a little while.